Baikal Environmental Wave

When – we met as part of a group meeting on September 26th. The organisation was established as an informal grassroots group in 1990 and officially registered in 1992.

Who – originally a group of young scientists and others at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Irkutsk. Now the key staff are Jennie Sutton and Maxim Voronsov, who were both at the meeting. Jennie, who I spoke to, is British but has worked in the Lake Baikal area since the 1970s, passionate about protecting the lake and the region.

What and why – the organisation runs campaigns and activities to protect Lake Baikal with its enormous species diversity, and the surrounding area; the organisation’s public education project centres on education for sustainability.

Find out more – baikalwave.org

Personal reflections –

I was struck by Jennie’s perspectives that young people in the area are not interested in environmental issues and she is frustrated by the lack of action in lots of the younger generation (though others at the meeting disagreed about this). Baikal Environmental Wave has shrunk in recent years; Jennie thinks it needs an injection of new and young ideas, more involvement in social media etc – if any of you who are reading this fancy getting involved, or heading out to Siberia to get stuck in with Jennie and Max, get in touch with me!